Cold War Voices: Stories, Speech and Sound, 1945-1991

Calls for Papers

Academic Conference

Department of Historical Studies

University of Bristol, UK

22-23 January 2020

Voices were an integral element
of the Cold War: from political speeches to surveillance technology, the spoken
word took on a political, cultural and social significance in the post-1945
world. But voices could also be used to express anger or dissatisfaction with
Cold War politics; to express fear or uncertainty for the future; or used to
disseminate alternate viewpoints on current affairs.

Historians too have turned to
voices to understand the history of the Cold War period, interviewing
policymakers, diplomats and officials, but also “ordinary” people who lived
through tension and conflict.

This conference aims to explore
the relationship between the Cold War, voices and oral history in more detail,
examining not only the gathering of voices during
the Cold War, for cultural, political or intelligence purposes, but also
historians’ use of voices, oral histories, oral culture and sound in writing
histories of this period.

Taking a deliberately broad view of Cold War ‘voices’, we
welcome papers on the following topics:

Surveillance, ‘listening in’ and recording voices
during the Cold War

Voices from war, conflict and violence during the
Cold War period, including the Korean War, Vietnam War and conflicts associated
with decolonization

Speaking out for peace: oral histories of nuclear
disarmament and the peace movement

Cultures of orality, folk culture, sound and song
during the Cold War

Narratives of subjectivity and selfhood during
the Cold War

Cold War anniversaries and the memory of the Cold
War

The use of oral history to understand the
domestic, local or regional impact of the Cold War, across the world

Oral histories with policymakers, diplomats or
officials, or other ‘elite’ political actors

The use of archived oral history interviews or
official histories

The dissemination of ‘voices’, via broadcast
media and the politics of Cold War interviewing

Innovative technologies for accessing,
disseminating or displaying Cold War voices

Proposals on other topics relating to the central themes are
also welcomed.

Proposals must include a title and a 350-400 word abstract,
plus a 200-word biography or one-page CV. Please send your proposal to grace.huxford@bristol.ac.uk and joel.morley@bristol.ac.uk by 1st October 2019. We welcome
applications from researchers from all career stages and disciplines.
Successful speakers will be contacted by 1st November 2019.

The conference will take place at the University of Bristol, UK. For more information on the University of Bristol, see: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/maps/ During the conference, a quiet space near the conference rooms will be available for those who wish to use it. Support for travel and accommodation will be available for early career researchers.

The workshop is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of Dr Grace Huxford’s AHRC Early Career Leadership Fellowship on ‘British Military Bases in Germany: Living with the Cold War and its Legacies, 1945-2000’ and is organized by Dr Grace Huxford and Dr Joel Morley.

For
further information please contact: grace.huxford@bristol.ac.uk and
joel.morley@bristol.ac.uk